Page 13 - index

TOP COVER 524+0)

94+66'0 $; /#4- 9+..+#/5 /1614+0)

MY CARS!

here is no doubting I am a car nut, and like many others my taste in four wheeled
transport has changed over the years.
My first car was a MK 1 facelift Capri 1600XL in Daytona yellow, bought for £600
Tfrom an actor who lived in Chobham. It was the car of my dreams, although it sadly
turned into a nightmare on the very first day when someone opened their car door as I drove
past! I then rear-ended someone driving to work, followed quickly by demolishing a garden
wall after clipping a kerb driving along with fish and chips on my lap. I finally finished the car
off on the A3 at Hurtmore when another car pulled across the carriageway in front of me!
Having joined the Army I then treated myself to a Mini. T is was also written off after an
altercation with another motorist in Hounslow. Now some of you are probably thinking that
my driving skills left something to be desired, but I can assure you however that I was not to
blame for all the collisions, and did become a Class 1 advanced driver!
My repertoire of cars in the following years included a Vauxhall Cavalier, Capri MK3 3.0
Ghia, Vauxhall Nova SR and GSi, Rover 827 Vitesse, and my first diesel car, a Citroen ZX
Volcane. One of the best cars I have owned would have to be a 1996 Subaru Impreza Turbo,
the face lift model with air con. T is car set me back some £20,500, which back in 1996 was
a lot of money. What followed caused much amusement to my ARV colleagues at the time. new and just 60,000 miles on the clock! An
T e bright red Impreza made way for a blue Renault Megane Scenic – yes, the babies had amazing car, this was a real driving machine
started to arrive and a family car was needed. A few people carriers later, and a Volvo XC90, with no power steering, no turbos and no
we finally decided to go for an estate car – a gleaming white Volvo V70 R Design, the 2.0 litre fancy electronics – just raw power!
diesel version. Great car but awful steering! Bringing things right up to date, the Williams Where are they now? All sold and a
family car is currently a Mercedes E220 CDi SE Executive estate, with an auto box. Lovely modest profit made on everyone of the
car but like driving an ocean-going liner! With retirement looming however, there is a special classic cars I have ever owned. I was reading
treat in the pipeline… more of that in the Summer magazine! an article the other day and it mentioned
Over the years I have also enjoyed modern classic cars. I started by buying a 1989 BMW that classic cars are set to double in value
E32 730i V8. T is was a beautiful car with swathes of leather and a limousine type ride. T e over the next five years. Cars I would
car was mint, with everything working perfectly. An amazing 1985 BMW E28 M535i with a recommend would be a BMW E34 – any
dogleg manual gearbox replaced the big 7 series. Whilst it was not the full-blown ‘M’ series, model, auto if possible and a convertible
they were very rare in E28 guise. T e M535 had a sweet flat 6 engine and pulled like a train. if your budget can stretch, an Alfa Romeo
Having owned Beemers for some time I decided to look at other makes. I had always been a GTV – Careful with these, but the V6 is
Porsche fan, and liked the 80s cars they produced. I looked around and found a 1980 Porsche a pearl of an engine and well looked after
924 Le Mans, 1 owner and just 16,000 miles from new! T is car was amazing, even though it examples will make money, or any Ford
was just the 2.0 VW derived engine, the car flew along and handled like a dream. Whilst I had Capri – making big money now.
the 924 I became more interested in Porsche, and decided to get together with a good mate of Got a classic you want to tell us about?
mine and buy a 911. It took some time to find the right car, but after travelling up and down Email mark@pfoa.co.uk
the country looking at some bad examples and some good expensive ones, we finally found You could be reading about your very
the car that was right for us – a 1982 911SC 3.0 Litre, in silver with a full history, MOTs from own treasure in TOP COVER ■